I agree.....in my area of Ventura County, California there was a huge run up in prices in 1988-90. People were tripping all over themselves bidding prices up to record levels (records for then anyway). In the next couple of years after that you could not sell your house to save your life. Prices ended up coming down 25-30%. If you had bought in at the peak in 1990 it took almost ten years to break even. Most realtors got out of the business.
A more recent example. In my area, say four years ago, the "for sale" signs stayed planted in the ground for at least a few months or more before I noticed them come down and a new family move in. Now I see them stay up for about 2 days before seeing the "sold" placard added to the top of the sign, and shortly after that they come down. Even though prices are about 50% higher now houses move faster. The population in my area is about the same, schools the same, jobs are less.
Its a mania....just like auction fever. If you have gone to many auctions often you will see prices get bid up way beyond what things are worth. People just get caught up in it, and real estate has the fever right now.
